Brampton Honey Badgers looking for back-to-back wins against the Scarborough Shooting Stars
For the second time in three days, the Brampton Honey Badgers (8-10) (-113) and Scarborough Shooting Stars (10-8) (-121) face-off, and this time it’ll be from the Toronto Pan Am Sports Centre, with tip-off set for 7:30 pm ET on Friday.
The game will be available for streaming live on TSN+, CEBL+ powered by BetVictor, and on the CEBL Mobile app available on iOS and Android devices.
This will be the fourth and final regular season contest between the Eastern Conference rivals, with their most recent head-to-head having taken place on Wednesday.
Not only did the convincing 103-86 win give the Honey Badgers their first win against the Shooting Stars this year, it also clinched their spot in the 2023 CEBL playoffs. It was a decisive third quarter run that ended up determining that game, as Brampton outscored Scarborough by 18 points in the frame on route to their second consecutive win.
The 103 points by the Honey Badgers were the most they’ve put up in a game all season, and the scoring outburst wasn’t a surprise considering six different Brampton players scored in double figures. Their top scorer on the night was Shamiel Stevenson who finished with 28 points, 10 rebounds, and three blocks, in just his fifth game with the squad.
The guard breezed past his previous season-high mark of eight points while also tallying his first double-double performance and was also a major contributor to that game-changing third quarter as he scored 11 points in the frame, shooting 5-6 along the way.
His importance can’t be understated, at least if you ask his head coach Antoine Broxsie, who thinks Stevenson’s addition has been one of the difference makers for the squad as of late.
“One of the keys [for our recent success] is Shamiel,” Broxsie said after Brampton’s third win in five games. “He’s a bowling ball, he goes down-hill, and is tough to stop. He causes a lot of mismatch problems because of how big he is and what he can do around the basket.”
On the other side, Scarborough saw their three-game win streak snapped as a result of the blowout loss, their first defeat since clinching a playoff spot of their own just under a week ago.
Aside from their struggles guarding Stevenson, a notable factor in the loss was their lack of distance shooting on the night. The Shooting Stars entered last game averaging 31 per cent from beyond the arc, making about eight a game, but they only knocked down two triples on Wednesday, while doing so on a lowly 10 per cent clip. Brampton ended up draining six more threes than Scarborough on the night, and the 18-point difference from long-balls ended up playing a role in the wide margin of victory.
Despite the loss, there were positives for Scarborough coming out of the game. All five starters scored in double figures and Kyree Walker led the way with a season-high 19 points to go with two steals and two blocks. Fans of the Shooting Stars were pleased to see the forward have a bounce back performance, his first double-digit outing in four games.
Had it not been for that third quarter run, the strong play of the starting unit might’ve been enough for the Shooting Stars to have left the CAA Centre with a win. Scarborough actually held the edge for total points through the other three quarters of the night and should look to try and replicate those minutes of play as they aim for a full 40-minute performance on Friday night.
In terms of playoff implications, with both teams having punched their tickets to the post-season this game won’t secure any team’s spot but can impact seeding. Brampton is locked into fourth place in the East, but a win for Scarborough could help their chances of jumping to second, or even first in the conference when it’s all said and done.
With just a game between the Shooting Stars in third and the top-seeded Niagara River Lions in first, there’s all kinds of scenarios still possible before the regular season’s conclusion.
Full conference standings can be found here.
All games will also be streamed live internationally on the CEBL’s OTT platform, CEBL+ powered by BetVictor, and on the CEBL Mobile app for iOS and Android devices. Full list of betting props available on BetVictor. Preview written by Zulfi Sheikh (@zulfi_sheikh).
A league created by Canadians for Canadians, the CEBL has the highest percentage of Canadian players of any professional league in the country, with 71 percent of its current rosters being Canadians. Players bring experience from the NBA, NBA G League, top international leagues, the Canadian National team program, and top NCAA programs as well as U SPORTS. The only First Division Professional League Partner of Canada Basketball. The CEBL season runs from May through August. Head to CEBL.ca for more information or follow us (@cebleague) on Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, LinkedIn, Facebook & YouTube.
